Perhaps the Next Stop
by imaginecreatebefall
Summary: It's Christmas Eve and all Quinn wants to do is get home and celebrate with her family. But of course, she misses the train back to Connecticut forcing her to wait alone for the next one. Her downer mood lifts however, when an unexpected hand grazes hers. Years may have passed, but one look at Santana brings memories and unspoken feelings straight to the surface.


**_So, it has been a few years since I wrote a Quinntana fic, but I get notices of people still reading some my old works from time to time, so I know this fandom is still out there! :) I'm sorry, I haven't partake in a while, but with the holiday season in full swing this fic came into my head and I couldn't shake it, so I thought I'd share. It's Quinntana, in a way (you'll see what I mean), And just a one shot. Hope everyone is having a safe holiday season so far. Best to all._**

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Quinn rushed through Grand Central, her stone zip-out trench acting as her cape as she sprang down the stair cases and platforms. If she missed this train she would have to wait at least another hour she thought for the next one since she completely forgot what the holiday schedule was anymore. All she wanted was to make her first Christmas separated from Puck memorable so that Lilly and Mathew wouldn't have to dwell on mommy and daddy no longer being together, but as she rushed down the last set of stairs all she received was a gust of musty smoke as the 5:47's back lights waved her a goodbye.

"Damn it," Quinn seethed stomping her foot on the empty platform, "damn it, damn it, damn it," she repeated, spinning in circles, grasping at her head with her hands as her black business bag wacked at her side. Now her two little ones would only remember mommy coming home late on Christmas Eve and if they didn't remember, her father would certainly remind her.

Quinn sighed making sure not to think too much as she dialed her parents who were staying at her house with her children while she handled one last business meeting before the New Year, rolling her eyes at her CEO for telling her it would be quick one, "I should have known better," Quinn mumbled as the phone rang, five hours is quick to the higher ups evidently.

"Hey mom," she started already hearing the sigh on the other end, but chose to ignore it, "it's me. I missed the train," only silence replied, but Quinn surged passed it. "I'm not sure when the next train arrives, I don't come into the city too much anymore and with the holiday schedule in affect, I believe it's like the weekends. I won't be too late though." This time her mother responded, but Quinn was ready for it. "Mother, I don't need you to remind me why things didn't work out between me and Puck. I've cut my hours since the divorce for the kids, but this meeting had to be today. Not everyone celebrates Christmas, remember that lovely man Puck you just mentioned. He's the reason our children celebrate both Christmas and Hanukkah, despite daddy's objections. Would you please just start dinner without me? I'll be home in time for milk and cookies and will tuck the kids in with our annual Christmas Eve story," thankfully her mother softened, knowing the last thing she wanted was to miss dinner, "thank you," Quinn sighed in relief as she hung up the phone.

Quinn had been busy since she rose this morning and wasn't really sure what to do with herself now that she had some free time. She glanced up and down the platform spotting a small newsstand in the center. Her phone's battery was running low, so she decided to put it away and grab a magazine to read to pass the time. She took one last glimpse up at the clock on the wall hoping it was still early enough that the next train wouldn't be long, but she had no control over that and instead of staring at the slow moving clock her heels clicked her over to the stand.

Since it was the end of the day, the pickings were slim. Thankfully, Quinn spotted one last, Fashion, and reached up for it hungrily as a hand from the other side of the stand did the same, brushing over hers.

"I'm sorry," Quinn remarked, jerking her hand back. As much as she wanted the remaining Fashion, the last thing she wanted was to get into a fight after her long tedious day, plus it was good to start her holiday vacation with an act of generosity. It was the last Fashion after all.

"It's yours if you want it, it is the holidays after all," came the voice from the other hand, an unmistakable, sassy confident voice she would know anywhere.

"Oh my God, Santana," Quinn spun out facing her long time friend, in a similar long tight black trench with matching gloves, flashing an equally cocky grin to match her remark.

"God, not quite, those immortals haven't been able to touch my greatness yet," Santana replied without missing a beat making Quinn perk up even more as she shook her head.

Santana pulled Quinn in for a half hug, since both their bags took up the other half of their space, "Good to see adulthood hasn't bruised that ego of yours," Quinn added as she leaned back.

"Please Fabray, if anything I'm smoother."

Quinn continued to smile as she handed the magazine over to Santana, "on me." Santana went to refuse, but Quinn already handed the cashier a ten from her pocket, snagging a bottle of water and a small pack of spearmint gum as well.

"Well, I don't want to keep you," Quinn went on, "I hope you and Brittany have a wonderful Christmas." Santana slithered a smile, but it seemed forced. "Everything okay?" Quinn couldn't help but pry.

"Brit's actually back in Lima for Christmas." Quinn cocked her head to the side, but bit her tongue this time, flashing Santana a sad smile instead. "It's nothing big," Santana answered her obvious concern. "My family decided to spend the holidays in Mexico this year and my PR firm is hosting a holiday feast in Spanish Harlem this weekend, so I told Brit to go home. I would have loved to bring her to the feast, but she picked up Italian by accident when I suggested she learn a language over the summer," Santana laughed, "there's similarities of course, but not enough for me to translate things three ways and I'd rather spend the time with the kids instead of going back and forth trying to figure out what curse word Brittany accidentally said to them."

Quinn laughed, "Well, I'm glad everything's alright with the two of you then."

Santana shrugged, "I guess." She then extended her arm, motioning for them to head over to one of the free benches. They sauntered over, side by side, arms brushing as they went, but kept quiet. Quinn knew there was more going on between her two friends, but after drifting apart throughout the years, she decided to wait before poking around some more. Plus, she didn't want her curiosities to be mistaken for something more. It had been a long time since she had seen Santana, even longer since the two of them ended their secret rendezvous after high school. Both had said at the time it was simply two friends being there for one another during tough times or when one of them had an itch as they called it, never admitting to anything more as they both bounced from relationship to relationship before finally settling with their high school sweethearts. Even if either of them wanted something more, they were both too stubborn to admit it, never wanting to cave to the other like some silly cheerleader competition. Quinn spotted a grin thinking of how ridiculous they were back then, unable to hide her smirk from Santana.

"What's with the face blondie?" Santana asked, with a more genuine tease than her once nasty remarks.

"Just thinking of the past."

Santana studied her telling face and a shade of red drifted into her cheeks, "if the next words out of your mouth is the good old days, you're gonna get in it."

Quinn poked her tongue out without even thinking and licked her glossened lips causing Santana to revert her eyes to the bench unable to handle the unplanned tease making Quinn slightly giddy inside once she realized what she had done. Santana brushed down the bench with a napkin from her pocket, patting down on the small semi-clean section for them to squeeze into. They sat there close together staring out at the empty rails, watching as free pages of newspapers still swiveled in the musky air while other people came and went. There was a dark man with glasses bellowing out Christmas songs for all to enjoy, a young tourist couple obviously lost asking the cashier for directions on a city map, their mishap not disrupting their giddy grins now that they were in New York, then came the everyday patron of the city in business attire zipping in and out of the walking lanes of the people, only tipping his hat to the group of carolers knowing to stay out of his way as they waited for their next train. The city was anything but boring, especially this time of year.

"I'm sorry to hear about you and Puck," Santana finally let out keeping her eyes forward. Quinn hummed as she glanced out along with her. It was only a matter of time before the topic came up, "it was for the best."

"Really?" Santana turned meeting Quinn's eyes as if on cue, Quinn unable to stop every smile that came through as she gazed into those softened dark eyes. "Yeah, we were just on two different paths. And I think after a while, we both realized that although we loved each other, we weren't _in love_ anymore. You know?" Santana nodded, not taking her eyes off Quinn as she reached down for her hand.

"Still," Santana went on taking an extra breath from their contact, "it couldn't have been easy, especially with the rugrats."

Quinn's face brightened at the mention of her children, "they're doing alright. They're young enough to hopefully adjust without any life shattering memories of mommy and daddy arguing constantly. We actually spent Thanksgiving together, then Puck took them and they celebrated Hanukkah with him, and just the other day he brought them home so we could spend the Christmas break together before they go back to school," Quinn shook her head, "I can't believe my babies are in Kindergarten," she went off topic for a moment, but Santana sat there holding her hand smiling along with her.

"Anyway, it's not something I'm necessarily proud of, but Puck and I realized that people grow into more specific individuals as they get older and although it may have worked in high school and even a few years afterwards, finding your identity sometimes stirs you away from what you once knew was comfortable. To me, that's why a lot of high school sweethearts don't work out in the end." Quinn shot her hand up to her mouth realizing what she said as she was saying it. "I'm so sorry Santana, I didn't mean to," but Quinn was quickly put to ease as Santana patted her leg.

"You didn't say anything that wasn't true Quinn," Santana breathed before turning a smirk, "besides; I've learned to control my temper since high school."

"Still," Quinn looked away embarrassed, only to have Santana reach around her face with her free had and gently guide Quinn's chin back over to face her. "I said, you were right, don't apologize for your blunt honesty, especially when you didn't intend to cause any emotional harm. I know you Quinn, and I know when you're being malicious and when you're being genuine." Santana's eyes fell to her lips, and Quinn's breath caught in her throat. She never forgot what it felt like to have those lips take hold of hers, to have them run up and down her body, taking their time as they hit every soft spot, making her body rise off the bed with the slightest flicker, "Looks like motherhood made you a little soft," Santana added snapping Quinn out of her dream state. Quinn swatted at Santana, but not for the reasons she thought. She was enjoying her blissful memories. "Still have a part of that old Fabray in there after all," Santana continued, catching her slapping hand.

"You know," Santana went on now grasping both her hands, "I thought I warned you that I'm slicker in my older years."

Quinn's stomach tumbled over, but she kept to the subject at hand, "So I see, regardless, I'm still sorry for how my words came out." Santana rolled her eyes playfully, but when she refocused her hand went up to Quinn's lips. Quinn froze. Santana was simply removing a few strands of hairs that were caught in her lip gloss, but Quinn couldn't stop her eyes from falling to the other woman's fingers grazing over her mouth, wanting to part her lips and invite her to do more. She continued to get lost in the past, her eyes catching Santana's locked on her lips as well, both fighting to keep what was once a playful romance at bay. Quinn couldn't stop herself and pressed her lips together against Santana's finger, causing them both to lose the ability to breathe again, but this time as Santana found air she jerked away, tears now filling her eyes.

"Shit, Santana," Quinn fumed at herself for not having any control, "I didn't mean to," but Santana shook her head and hand out rapidly in response. "Please don't apologize again. You didn't do anything wrong, I just forgot what this felt like."

"What?" Quinn didn't know what to do, but she knew she had to act quickly. Santana may have always put up a strong exterior, but she played it up, while crumbling behind the shield. She needed a friend now, not some old hook up reminders, so Quinn scooted closer to her on the bench and placed her hand on her thigh innocently. "What are you talking about?" she urged on.

"This," Santana said catching her breath making Quinn a little nervous, "being playful with someone, smiling without any effort, easy conversations, I forgot what it felt like to have this." Her eyes fell thinking to herself for a moment. "I love Brit, I do, but maybe you were right. Maybe like you and Puck as much as I love Brittany, I'm not in love her anymore."

Quinn shook her head angry at herself, "I'm such an ass. I can't believe I did this. I haven't seen you in almost a year and I go ahead and plant this idea in your head."

"Hey," Santana snapped out of her tears laughing, "Do you honestly think ten minutes of playful banter on a train station bench broke up my marriage?" She laughed some more, Quinn feeling a little silly for jumping to that conclusion as Santana went on. "No, Brittany and I have been on this same old routine at home for the last several months. It's been okay, but nothing special, mostly the casual smile here and there while staying out of each other's way as we go about our days. We even tried going on a few dates, but the conversation is always the same. More silence than anything else. There's no fighting, but there's no connection or spark anymore either. Just two people living together more like roommates than partners. I'm not really sure what to do."

A small roar came from one of the tunnels, taking Quinn's attention away for a moment, but Santana reached down to her hand again. "It's the other side," Santana remarked, making Quinn's face sadden.

"I'm sorry, you were saying."

"It's nothing for you to worry about. I know what I have to do, I'm just afraid if I do what I feel is right, I'll lose her for good." Quinn went to reply, but Santana shook her off. "Like I said, it's not your problem. And from the way your head jerked up, I'd say you have two very important people to get home to that deserve your time. That being said, I think I'm going to have to make a trip up to Connecticut soon. It's been a long time since I saw Lilly and Mathew, plus, anyone that can make you glow like that, I want to get to know."

"I'd like that," Quinn replied perching her head up on her hand meeting Santana's gaze again. It was like a beacon, no matter where she turned, her eyes always found the brunettes. Too much time had passed though, Quinn knew that now. It was fun to daydream about what they did together, but in reality, too much time had passed. Their lives had taken different paths as well, yet here they were, talking to each other like the years in between hadn't happened. Maybe their paths were meeting up with one another again. Santana reached up and with one finger and traced it down Quinn's cheek, grazing partly over her bottom lip to her chin giving it a tap. As much as they both wanted to explore what could be, their lives at the moment were still in the process of sorting themselves out. Quinn still needed to get used to being a single mother and Santana needed to come to terms with her own marriage possibly ending. Still their eyes refused to look away from one another, until another roar came echoing through tearing their eyes away from each other and to the tracks.

"That was quicker than I thought it would be," Quinn said eyeing her Metro North coming into view.

"I'm glad I could help make the time go by," Santana replied, standing up while extending her hand. Quinn smiled down at their hands, taking her time sliding hers over the top of Santana's before grasping it. "Try not to be a stranger," Quinn breathed, her heart racing, part in anticipation to get home to her kids, and partly because this was the last thing she was expecting today and was afraid to let it go.

Santana smiled as the train came to a halt and out of nowhere the platform filled with people coming and going. Quinn glanced up once more wanting to memorize Santana's gaze, but she didn't have time to as Santana leaned in. The kiss was soft, simple, innocent. They kept their mouths sealed taking in the warmth the connection brought them, nothing more; just a tender goodbye, and possibly, a promise that it wasn't just that. They pulled back simultaneously, their eyes smiling back at one another one last time.

"Merry Christmas Quinn."

"Merry Christmas Santana." The platform emptied just as quickly as it filled and Santana jerked with her chin for Quinn to go, "I don't want to have to steal a car and weave in and out of traffic to get you home in time for the end of dinner," Quinn gave her a sideways eye wondering how Santana knew, but left it at that. She just did. Quinn patted her side making sure her bag was there as she stepped back onto the train, calling out once more before the doors closed. "Hey, what are you doing down here anyway?" Santana smirked. "I thought I took a wrong turn, I guess I didn't." Quinn pressed her hand to her heart as the doors closed on them. She wished she had said more, but it wasn't their time, perhaps the next stop she thought as the trained roared to life taking Quinn home.


End file.
